Chuadanga, May 21 (UNB) – In a rare move, Deputy Commissioner of the district Gopal Chandra Das along with other government officials joined poor farmers in harvesting their paddy from the field in Jibannagar upazila on Tuesday.

With the slogan ‘Farmers are not alone, we are beside them’, the DC joined the paddy harvesting activities in the morning.

Together with additional deputy commissioner (Revenue) Khandaker Farhad Ahmed and additional deputy commissioner (General) Mohammad Yahiya Khan, the DC started harvesting paddy on 15 kathas of land of Jebun Nesa at Peyaratola village.

As the news spread around, upazila parishad chairman Haji Hafizur Rahman, upazila nirbahi officer Md Sirajul Islam, upazila parishad vice-chairman Abdus Salam Esha, female vice-chairman Ayesha Sultana Lucky, upazila agriculture officer Sharmin Akhter, local union parishad Chairman Sohrab Hossain Khan and scout members also went to the field and joined the paddy harvesting.

Jebun Nesa said she could not hire labourers for harvesting paddy from her land for lack of money. “When I along with my son Shah Alam started harvesting paddy in the morning, the DC along with the officials joined us.”

After the harvesting work, the DC started procuring paddy directly from farmers visiting their houses.

A farmer has to pay around Tk 800 to a labourer amid low price of paddy, making the situation worse for them.

Chattogram, May 21 (UNB) - At least 12 shops were gutted as a fire broke out at KB Bazar in Banshkhali upazila early Tuesday.

Lotin Basnu, chief of Banshkhali fire service, said the fire originated at the bazaar under Boilchhari union in the early hours.

On information, a fire-fighting unit rushed in and doused the blaze after half an hour.

The victim shop owners claimed that the extent of loss caused by the fire will be around Tk 1.50 crore. 

The reason behind fire could not be known.

Kushtia, May 21 (UNB) – A tribunal here on Tuesday sentenced the head teacher of a secondary school in Meherpur in a case for violating a Christian teacher of the school in a residential hotel in 2016.

The convict is Shariful Islam, the headmaster of Amrokanon Secondary School in Mujibnagar upazila of Meherpur district.

The court also fined him Tk 1 lakh and in case of failure to pay the penalty, he will have to serve six months more in jail.

According to the prosecution, Shariful came to the district town of Kushtia on May 13, 2016 along with the female teacher for teachers’ registration examination.

They rented two separate rooms at Al-Amin Hotel in Boro Bazar introducing them as uncle and niece.

However, Sharif entered the teacher’s room around 7:30pm and violated her. Then, he fled the hotel.

Being rescued by the hotel staff, the victim was admitted to Kushtia General Hospital.

Later, she filed a case with Kushtia Model Police Station.

After examining all the records and witnesses, Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Munshi Md Asiar Rahman handed down the verdict.

Madaripur, May 21 (UNB) – A 54-year-old policeman has been arrested for throwing a teenage girl out of his house through the ventilator reportedly after raping her.

Police arrested Muktar Hossain, a constable, after victim’s uncle filed a case with Sadar Police Station on Monday night, said Quamrul Hossain, officer-in-charge of Sadar Police Station.

The constable has been residing with his wife at a rented house in TB Clinic area of the district town. He called the 16-year-old girl to his house in absence of his wife at 8pm on Sunday and violated her. 

Hearing her screams, locals rushed in and confined the constable to his own house. At one stage though, he threw the girl out of his house through the ventilator.

Later, the constable was withdrawn and attached to the district police lines as the news spread around. 

Besides, a probe body was formed headed by Badrul Alam Mollah, additional superintendent of police (Sadar Circle), to look into the matter. 
 

Dhaka, May 21 (UNB) – Fifteen Bangladesh nationals who survived a boat capsize in the Mediterranean Sea on May 11 while attempting to reach Europe from Libya returned home from Tunisia early Tuesday.

A Turkish Airlines flight carrying them landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 6am, Tanvir Hossain, assistant director of Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training and in-charge of Expatriates’ Welfare Desk at the airport, told UNB over phone.

He said they are now under the custody of immigration police.

As many as 39 Bangladeshis went missing after the boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off Tunisia coast on May 11 while attempting to reach Europe from Libya.

Besides, 15 Bangladesh nationals were rescued alive from the capsized boat and the body of another was recovered from the sea.

The boat sank 40 miles off the coast of Sfax, south of the capital Tunis, and fishing boats rescued the survivors.

Two boats -- one carrying around 150 people -- set out from Libya at the same time on May 9 (night).

Around 130 of them were Bangladeshis and one of the boats reached Italy safely and another carrying 70-80 people sank in the sea.

The Bangladeshis went to Libya four months ago. They reached Tripoli via Dubai, Sharjah and Alexandria. In Tripoli, the human traffickers tortured them and extorted money from their families.